MGMT 105 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Marketing Mix, Work Ethic
29 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Mktg Ch 4: The Marketing Environment
● A target market is a defined group that managers feel is most likely to buy a firm’s
product
○ as markets mature, some new consumers become part of the target market;
others drop out
● Managers must alter the marketing mix because of changes in the environment in which
consumers live, work, and make purchasing decisions
● Many organizations assemble a team of specialists to continually collect and evaluate
environmental information, a process called environmental scanning
○ The goal in gathering the environmental data is to identify future market
opportunities and threats.
● Some of the key areas that firms should monitor in the external environment are
○ Understanding current customers
■ That is, how they buy, where they buy, what they buy, and when they buy
○ Understanding what drives consumer decisions.
○ Identify the most valuable customers and understand their needs
■ Often 20 percent of a firm’s customers produce 80 percent of the firm’s
revenue
○ Understand the competition
■ Successful firms know their competitors and attempt to forecast their
future moves
● Bc no firm is big enough to control external change, marketing managers are basically
adapters rather than agents of change
● When a company implements strategies that attempt to shape the external environment
within which it operates, it is engaging in environmental management
○ social, demographic, economic, technological, political and legal, and competitive
Social Factors
● American Values
○Self-sufficiency
: Every person should stand on his or her own two feet
○Upward mobility
: Success would come to anyone who got an education, worked
hard, and played by the rules
○Work ethic
: Hard work, dedication to family, and frugality were moral and right
○Conformity
: No one should expect to be treated differently from everybody else
Document Summary
A target market is a defined group that managers feel is most likely to buy a firm"s product. As markets mature, some new consumers become part of the target market; others drop out. Managers must alter the marketing mix because of changes in the environment in which consumers live, work, and make purchasing decisions. Many organizations assemble a team of specialists to continually collect and evaluate environmental information, a process called environmental scanning. The goal in gathering the environmental data is to identify future market opportunities and threats. Some of the key areas that firms should monitor in the external environment are. That is, how they buy, where they buy, what they buy, and when they buy. Identify the most valuable customers and understand their needs. Often 20 percent of a firm"s customers produce 80 percent of the firm"s revenue. Successful firms know their competitors and attempt to forecast their future moves.
